Explore Shakespeare

The teeming autumn is big with rich increase . . . in Shakespeare scholars; from Leaving and Junior Cert students cracking open their books to third-level humanities scholars blowing dust off their Bard tomes. “Experience the play with photos, notes, activities and audio,” this app boasts, and experience them you will. The audio is well acted and produced, and it heaves with information and analysis, including the texts, tables of characters with links to their biographies, and a host of visual aids. The Themes graph is surprisingly fun – a chart that undulates like a heart monitor as it follows the rise and falls of themes across the timeline (the vertical line is “thematic intensity” and the horizontal one is marked by acts). Infographics abound in fact: The “Language” graph is an elegant circle filled with words; tap on a word to find its appearance and significance in the text. This is best suited to those in secondary school, but third level students, casual fans and experts will all find much to enjoy.